The Chabad House Complex – Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, the capital of northern Thailand, is one of the country’s leading tourist destinations and a starting point for journeys into the mountains, villages, and landscapes of the north. Over the years, it has become an almost permanent stop on the itinerary of Israeli travelers. During the Jewish holidays, many Israelis arrive to celebrate together and to feel—even if only for a few days—at home.

This reality created the need for a new Chabad House in Chiang Mai—not merely as a synagogue, but as a multifunctional center that would serve as an open home for Israeli travelers and the local Jewish community. The program includes a synagogue, separate meat and dairy restaurants, a large event hall, a classroom and library, a travelers’ lounge, a kosher products store, a children’s playroom, offices, men’s and women’s mikvaot, and a residence for the emissary family.

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The architectural concept emerged from the phrase, “A little light dispels much darkness.” At the center of the building, a “Core of Light” was designed: a vertical, open, and illuminated atrium containing a rich tropical garden. The activity spaces are organized around this core, while the service and operational systems, together with a circulation ring, complete the architectural envelope.

Natural light enters through the roof and descends through the building’s levels, accompanied by tropical vegetation that climbs and cascades between the floors. In this way, the green core becomes an element that connects the different parts of the building and serves as a point of orientation and encounter—a kind of vertical internal street.

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The various floors accommodate the restaurants and public spaces, the synagogue, the event hall, and the emissary family’s residence. The roof becomes an additional public space, incorporating areas for events, seating, a travelers’ zone, and the possibility of constructing a sukkah.

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Through this design, we sought to create, within Chiang Mai’s dense urban fabric, a place that is at once a house of prayer, a community center, and a meeting point for Israeli travelers—a home of light, vegetation, hospitality, and a sense of belonging, far from home.